I’ve been so excited to show you photographs from our safaris in Zambia, that I haven’t written much about our days spent prior to that in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is surely one of the most beautiful cities that I’ve ever seen, and it was an extraordinary visit.

When Shelley was invited to teach for three days at the University of Cape Town, I thought I could take advantage of the opportunity and plan my own trip to visit the Zip Zap Circus and School, to which I had been repeatedly invited in years past.

Under Artistic Director Brent Van Rensburg, Zip Zap trains a diverse community of kids in the Circus Arts in order to provide them with future employment opportunities and to help develop the next generation’s confidence and leadership skills. The Circus School has been in operation for over twenty years, co-founded by Brent and Managing Director Laurence Estève “to inspire young people and help build a new culture of peaceful coexistence in South Africa.”

Part of my visit was spent presenting to the students, followed by a very lively and inquisitive question and answer period. It’s always a thrill to speak to the next generation of circus artists, especially when my next encounter with these young performers could be anywhere in the world.

I had a great time at the Circus School, as no doubt you can tell from the photograph below:

For my next and last blog about the Africa trip, I’ll share a brief recap and some photographs from the rest of our time in Cape Town.